Paul schneider adminis



(No Model.)

B. B. NIGOLAUS, Deod.

PAUL SCHNEIDER, Administrator. DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY MANIPULATING THE VALVES OF HIGH VACUUM PUMPS.

Patented July 2, 1889.

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cuits are opened, and thus prevent the corro- Stearns improved Sprengel pump, and Fig.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND B. NICOLAUS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO; PAUL SCHNEIDER ADMINIS TRATOR OF SAID EDMUND B. NICOLAUS, DECEASED.

DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY MANIPULAT ING THE VALVES OF HIGH-VACUUM PUMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 406,231, dated July 2, 1889.

Application filed October 19, 1886. Serial No. 216,689. (No model.) v

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDMUND B. NICOLAUS, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Automatically Manipulating the Valves of High- Vacuum Pumps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description. of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in devices for automatically manipulating the valves of high-vacuum pumps.

In a high-vacuum pump having electrical devices for automatically actuating the valve by the employment of the rise and fall of the. mercury for opening and closing the circuits difficulty has been experienced in operating the pumps, owing to the corrosion of the mercury by the spark which is caused by the opening of the circuits at the mercury contacts.

The object of myinventi'on is to obviate the sparks at the mercury contacts when the cirsion of the mercury; and with this end in view my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates my improvement as applied to a 2 is a view in section through plug F.

A represents the upright tube or elevator of the pump, the lower end of the elevator be ing provided with a mercury-reservoir a and the upper end with a mercury-reservoir a. Tube B, situated within the elevator A, passes upwardly through an air-tight packing or stopper I), placed near or at the lower portion of the upper reservoir a. This tube extends downwardly into the lower portion of reservoir a and is open at its lower end, as shown at b. The upper end of the tube B extends into the upper portion of the reservoir a and is provided with anopening W. A pipe 0 connects the reservoirs a a, to allow the mercury to flow from the upper reservoir downwardly into the lower' reservoir.

D D are clectro-magnets, the poles of which face each other and are located at a suitable distance apart to permit of the proper movement of the armature E, the free end of which '5 5 is situated between the poles of the electromagnets, while its opposite end is riveted or otherwise secured to the. end of the rotary plug-valve F of the two-way valve or stopcock G. To the casing of the valve are connected the tubes (Z, c, and f. The tube 01 connects the valve-casing with the upper end of the pump-elevator A at the point a The tube 6 on the valve-casing and the tube g, connected with the upper mercury-reservoir a are connected to a constantly-operated m echanical exhaust-pump. (Not shown.) The tube f is an inlet-pipe for the admission of atmospheric pressure. Plug F- is provided with a through passage h and abranch passage When the plug is shifted to one of its positions, communication will be established between the tubes (1 and e and close the tube f. When shifted to its other position, communication will be established between tubes f and 7 5 (Z, and thereby allow of the admission of atmospheric pressure.

A platinum contact-point 1 is sealed into the lower portion of the lower mercury-reservoir a, and is connected by a conductor K with a platinum point 2, which is sealed into the lower portion of the upper mercury-reservoir a. Platinum contact-point 2 is connected by a wire K with one pole M of abattery K. A platinum contact 3 is sealed intothe upper end of the lower mercury-reservoir a and connects by a wire lwith the helix of the electromagnet D, the other end of the wire of the helix being connected by the wire Z with the conductor-plate Z which latter is provided with a contact Z which engages a contact Z on the spring-conductor Z the latter being electrically connected by the wires Z Z with the pole N of battery K. A platinum contact 4 is sealed into the upper portion of the up- 5 per mercury-reservoir a, and is electrically connected by the conductor m with one end of the helices of the electro-magnet D, the opposite end of the helices being connected by the wire m with the conductor-plate mtwhich is provided with a contact a. A spring-conductor 0 is provided with a contact a, which engages contact at, and is connected to the pole N of battery K by the wires '12? and F.

To one end of the armature is secured a bar P, which serves to break. the circuits, as will be explained.

llavin g described the construction and relative arrangement of the different parts of my improvement, I will now describe its operation. There is a sufficient quantity of mercury in the lower reservoir a at all times to cover the contact-point 1 in the lower part thereof. XVhen the mercury flows through pipe G into reservoir a and rises therein until it reaches the contact 3, the electric circuit including the magnet D is closed, the current flowing from pole M of battery K through conductor K K, platinum contact 1, through the body of mercury in the lower reservoir (1, to contact 3, and from thence through conductor 1, helices of electro-magnet D, conductor Z, conductor-plate Z contacts Z l, spring-conductor l, and wires L F, to the other pole M of battery K. The instant the circuit above described is closed, the current flowing therein will operate to energize the electro-magnet D and cause it to attract the armature E, and cause the latter to shift and partially rotate the plug F and bring the passages 2 it into alignment with the tubes (1 and f, and when in this position atmospheric pressure will enter through tube f, passages 1) h, and tube (1 into the upper end of the elevator A and operate to force the mercury contained in the reservoir a into the tube 13 through the opening I) in its lower end and upwardly through the tube, the mercury spouting through the opening b in the upper end of the tube and falling into the upper reservoir a. The elevation of the mercury from the lower to the upper reservoir is assisted by the vacuum maintained in the latter by the uninterrupted connection of the pipe g with a constantly-operated exhaust-pump. \Vhen the armature E is attracted by the magnet D, as described, the rod or bar P fastened thereto engages the spring bar or 0011- ductor l and separates the contacts Z 1*, and thus breaks the circuit above described, and within which are included the contacts 1 As the column of mercury in the lower reservoir continues to descend, it falls below the contact 3, and thus breaks the circuit between the contacts 1 and 3. \Vere it not for the fact that the circuit including these contacts had been previously opened at the contacts Z 1, a spark would ot necessity be formed within the lower reservoir at contact 3 when the mercury contact at this point is broken by the fall of the column of mercury, and corrosion of the mercury would result therefrom; but, owing to the fact that the circuit is broken at the contacts Z Z prior to its being broken at 3, no spark is formed in the lower reservoir, and hence the mercury therein is not corroded. The mercury continues to flow from the lower reservoir into the upper reservoir until it reaches contact at, when the circuit including the electro-magnet D is closed, the current flowing from battery K through conductor K to contact 2, through the body of mercury in reservoir to to contact 4, and from thence to conductor m, to the helices of electro-magnet 1), through the latter and 0011- ductor m, conducting-plate m contacts a n, spring-conductor 0,,and wires n F, to the other pole N of battery K. The current in this circuit will thus energize the electro-magnet D and attract the armature, which latter will be shifted and partially rotate the plug F and cause the port or passage h to register with the tubes (Z c, and as the latter communicates with a mechanical exhaust-pump, the air is exhausted from the elevator A and the pressure on the top and bottom of the column of mercury in the upper reservoir equalized, or, in other words, practically relieving the column of mercury in the upper reservoir of any pressure, and thus allowing the mercury in reservoir 0, to flow through the pipe 0 back again into reservoir a, when the operation is again repeated. \Vhen armature E is attracted and shifted by the magnet D, the bar 1 engages the spring-conductor o and separates the contacts at n, thus opening the circuit including contacts 2 and at, and hence prevents the formation of a spark within the upper reservoir when the mercury contact is broken at l; also, the armature E, when it is shifted, as last described, operates to disengage the bar P from the spring-conductor l and allows the latter to close the contacts Z Z", so as to insure a closing of the circuit including the magnet D, when a suflicient quantity of mercury has entered the lower reservoir to to engage the contact 3.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the column of mercury in the upper and in the lower reservoirs of the pump operates to close the circuits including the valve-actuating devices, and thus insure a constant and automatic operation of the pump, while the circuits are broken and interrupted at points outside of the pump, and thus the corrosion of the mercury is prevented.

It is evident that slight changes in the con-- struction and relative arrangement of the different parts of my improvei'nent might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention, and hence I would have it understood that I do not limit or restrict myself to the particular construction and combination of parts shown and described; but,

Ilavin g fully described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with the mercury-reservoirs of a high-vacuum pump, a valve and tubes for admitting variable pressure upon the mercury within the reservoirs, electromagnets for actuating the valve, and electric circuits having terminals located within the mercury-reservoirs, so that the circuits will he opened and closed by the mercury in the pump, of circuit-breakers located outside of the pump and adapted to automatically open and close the circuits immediately prior to their being opened or closed by the mercury of the pump, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a high-vacuum pump and 'electro-magnets for actuating the valve for controlling the pump-connections, of contacts arranged and adapted to be closed by the mercury in the pump, and circuit breakers outside of the mercury-reservoirs for opening the circuits before the mercury contacts are broken, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a high-vacuum pump and electro-magnets for actuating the valve for controlling the pump-connections with the open air and exhaust-pump, of circuit-breakers for automatically opening and closing the circuits connected with the mercury-reservoirs at points outside of said reservoirs, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination,with the mercury-reservoir of a high-vacuum pump, contacts located within the reservoir and adapted to be closed by the mercury therein, and an electric circuit connected with the contacts and having an electro-magnet included therein, of a circuit-breaker adapted to break the circuit at a point outside of the mercury-reservoir im mediately after the circuit has been closed Within the reservoir, substantially as set forth.

5. In a high-vacuum pump, the combination, with the mercury-reservoirs, a valve forv controlling the pump-connections with the open air and exhaust-pump, and electro-magnets for automatically actuating the valve, of a circuit-breaker for alternately opening and closing the circuits connected with the merour -reservoirs at points outside of the pum 

